Israel Matzav

Video: Barney Frank v. Joel Pollak

Although this video is quite famous, I had never seen it before and I suspect many of you have also never seen it. As I watched it, I was fascinated by it, but thought I would not post it until I saw the last two minutes.

For those who have not heard of it, this is Joel Pollak, current candidate for Congress in Illinois' 9th Congressional district, going at it with Congressman Barney Frank (D-Ma), who is currently in a pitched battle to save his seat in a race with another bright, young conservative named Sean Bielat. I have endorsed both Pollak and Bielat. Pollak was a student at Harvard Law School at the time this video was made.

Watching Barney squirm was entertaining, but I'm posting this because of the questions Greta van Sustern asks Pollak in the last two minutes, and the answers that he gives. More below the fold.

Let's go to the videotape.



Did you pick up those last two minutes there? Joel Pollak could have been writing my political biography. I was a Democrat until I got to law school in 1980 (although, unlike my parents, I could not bring myself to support George McGovern in 1972, the first vote I ever cast for President was for Jimmy Carter in 1976). The 1980 election and the way the Leftists at NYU Law argued about it turned me into a conservative Republican. In fact, all of the Orthodox Jews walked around NYU that fall with Reagan buttons in Hebrew - we knew that if Jimmah was re-elected, Israel would be sold out.

A couple of years in yeshiva in Israel convinced me to make aliya (immigrate to Israel) rather than going into politics in the US, but listening to Joel describe his political evolution gave me a real sense of deja vu.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:47 AM